MUSHROOM POISONU M7 



and is credited in the daily press with having Baved li\r> in toad 

 stool poisoning. The mycological investigators \i>it the familj and 

 usually find its members up and aboul their usual occupatio 

 This is the impression one gets "i Clitocybe illudens from twenty 

 nine Detroit cases. The remnants of the feasl are usually found 

 to be large half-cooked tough masses. Mcllvaine reports .1 — . • 1 »• > 1 1 

 aceous taste and the ability to retain the fungus when eaten. 11 

 is possible t<> make ii comparatively harmless bj heating it in Ball 

 water for half-hour, then taking ii <>hi and frying ii in butter 

 l';iilii\\ reports illness of four persons. Thej round the fried flavor 

 excellent. Within two hours ;ill had free vomiting lasting ;ill after 

 noon, no depression, n<> intestinal disturbance. No emetics were 

 used since the Jack 0' Lantern carries thi^ property with it and 

 in,i\ thus ward off more serious results. At .1 NVw York state 

 inst it ui ion eighl teachers and children, after terrible nausea, re 

 covered. No fatalities have been recorded. Diarrhea and prostra 

 tion may occur. Clark and Smith 81 found thai extracts of the plan I 

 would Btop .1 frog's hear! which would recover under atropine. 

 Similar results were obtained on the creature when paralyzed bj 

 tlic extract. They conclude thai Clitocybt illudens exerts ;i char 

 aeteristic muscarin effecl on exposed hearts which effecl is com 

 pletely overcome by atropin. 1 No1 the case in extracts of imai 

 mii8caria.) Ford finds n<> hemolysin bu1 the power to produce an 

 acute intoxication in guinea pigs, fatal in one to seven days or ;i 

 chronic intoxication lasting fifteen days. No lesions postmortem. 

 Babbits unaffected. After one year of drying boiling for half-hour 

 ilcsi royed the toxicity. 



The characteristic American Clitocybe illudens has its phosphor- 

 escent and related European correspondent in igaricus (or PI* 

 urotus) ohnriiis, which, mistaken for the Chanterelle, caused ill 

 ness of ilif illudens type in France. 4 * 



Fabre writes, "The sofl light <>f Agaricus olearius has confounded 

 our ideas of optics; it does nol reflect, ii does nol form an iui 

 when passed through a lens, ii does nol affecl ordinarj phi 

 graphic plates." (Fabre, Poe1 of Science LeOroa 



Clitocybe dealbata var. sudorifica or Clitocybt nudorifica, the 

 sudorific Clitocybe, is an interesting little toxic toadstool recently 

 added ti> the black list. It i> often found among "fairy rings" 

 asmius oreades). I believe it has been picked with the latter mul 

 thus caused trouble, though easily distinguished. The tl 

 good. Minneapolis has .1 record of two cases of j » . » i — * ■ 1 1 1 f » -_: P< 

 himself tested it. eating eighl caps slightly fried, and got the usual 



